One of the most rewarding parts of our job as executive recruiters is building close, personal relationships with our clients. In our client spotlight series, we’ll interview a variety of clients to hear their viewpoints on industry trends and best practices, along with their top advice for other companies looking for their next recruiting partner.
In this first edition, I interviewed Monica Hamling, Vice President of People Operations and Culture at Nortech Systems.
Lucas: Thanks for joining me today, Monica! Let’s jump right in. What’s your past experience been like working with executive recruiting firms?
Monica: “We have an internal team that does most of our hiring. In my prior experience, I have been very picky because, when I originally started out, I worked in recruiting. I’m very particular about what I need and what I really appreciate.”
Lucas: “What type of experience are you looking for when you engage with an executive recruiting partner?”
Monica: “That they really listen carefully. Not just to what the job requires but what the profile of the person is, including how the person’s going to be able to get along well with others, fit with the culture of our organization, and how they’re prepared to help us grow our business. It’s critical for us to have that level of partnership and engage with a partner who can tell our story even better than we can.”
Lucas: “Is it uncommon for you to see this type of involvement and commitment from a traditional recruiting partner?
Monica: “It’s uncommon. I’ve tended to not use recruiters as much because we didn’t always have partners that get to the depth of understanding that a partner like Grey can do as quickly as they can do it. Lots of recruiters call and want to work with our company. Very few show up with the level of customer intimacy we’ve experienced with Grey.”
Lucas: “What is your top piece of advice for other companies when it comes to executive recruiting?”
Monica: “I guess the biggest advice I would say is, you can hold your standards high and get what you need from a search partner. Most of the colleagues I know in our industry might tend to choose to use three or four different agencies. A lot of people in my type of position would also look at contingency search and think, ‘well, I only want to pay them if they find us what we need.’ I suggest that anyone who is in that mode of hiring a very critical position to their company invest in a great search firm like Grey, and be willing to do retain, because then you’re going to get the dedicated focus and attention of someone who gets your business.”
Lucas: “Appreciate your time, Monica.”
Monica: “Thanks for having me!”
